Syracuse and Penn State to open 2013 season in New Jersey

Feb 21, 2013 - 5:47 PM East Rutherford, NJ (Sports Network) - Syracuse and Penn State will kick off the 2013 college football season at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

The contest, first announced in June 2010, will pit two long-time eastern rivals in a game billed as New York's College Classic on Aug. 31 in East Rutherford.

Syracuse, which will move from the Big East to the ACC next season, played at MetLife Stadium during the 2012 campaign, falling to Southern California.

"We look forward to starting our 2013 season by rekindling an age-old rivalry against a prestigious Penn State program," said new Syracuse coach Scott Shafer.

It will be Penn State's first game at the new football stadium in East Rutherford and the school's first visit to the Meadowlands complex since squaring off against USC at the old Giants Stadium in the 2000 Kickoff Classic.

"We are thrilled with the opportunity to open the 2013 season in a fantastic venue like MetLife Stadium against Syracuse, a team that Penn State has more than 90 years of tradition with on the football field," said Penn State coach Bill O'Brien. "With nearly 30,000 Penn State alumni in the New York-New Jersey metro area, we are looking forward to playing in front of a passionate base of Penn State supporters. It will be exciting for our team to open the 2013 season in the same facility that will end the year by hosting Super Bowl XLVIII."

Penn State has played Syracuse 70 times previously -- the second-highest total for a Nittany Lions opponent -- and owns a 42-23-5 record against the Orange. The two schools met every season from 1944-90, then most-recently played a home-and-home set in 2008-09 with Penn State winning both games.

Syracuse is 5-4 all-time at the Meadowlands, while Penn State was 10-3 at Giants Stadium, including a 35-7 victory over Syracuse in 1979.